Adhæsit
by alexisbelt
Summary: After Bruce leaves most of his fortune to his soon-to-be-son, Richard Grayson, assassins come from right and left trying to kill him. Even after Dick outright declines it, Bruce brings in Young Justice to watch over Dick. After hearing that they think he is nothing but a spoiled brat, however, he isn't going to make it easy on them. (NO PAIRINGS WITH ROBIN)
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Richard Grayson lays in his bed of Egyptian Cotton. Soft snores escape his partly open lips. Even though always alert; he sleeps peacefully. His window, which is slightly open, lets in a small breeze that cools down his heated room.

Not all is peaceful, however. An assassin was watching him sleeping. It was someone you might know; it was Cheshire. A bounty was on little Richard Grayson's head.

Bruce Wayne had changed his will, giving all his money to Richard Grayson and the butler, Alfred Pennyworth. Now everyone was out to get the billionaire's ward. Cheshire seemed to be the first to take action, though.

Cheshire takes out her knives laced with jellyfish poison, and held them so they were pointed down. She dives through the window almost silently, only making a small thump. However, that small thump was enough to notify someone bellow the room, a one Alfred Pennyworth.

Alerting his master, he runs up the stairs as quickly and silently as he could. They had expected this, and even took special precautions. Bruce gets up quickly and helps Alfred beat down the door, which Cheshire apparently locked.

Bruce steps back and runs to the door and kicks it down. Cheshire Is seen just inches away from poor Richard. The pre-teen fidgets and turns around, snuggling in his pillow.

She is taken aback by Bruce and the butler, but then turns on them and attacks them. Bruce pushes Alfred out of the way and starts using mild karate moves on her. They were barely good enough to beat her, but he couldn't let his secret slip.

Cheshire grabs his foot as he kicks her again and flips him onto his stomach. She goes to stab him, therefore poisoning him, before a 'supposed to be sleeping' boy kicks her in the back and hits her pressure point. She falls to the floor before Alfred runs in injecting her with a fast acting melatonin. She falls down and stops struggling when sleep overcomes her.

Richard wipes non-existing sweat off his brow and says with a smile, "That was so NOT asterous."

Alfred chuckles while Bruce only lets on a little side grin. They all start dragging her down the staircase, through the foyer, to the library, then to the bat cave.

Now, Bruce, under normal circumstances, would never take such a risk. However, it was different; it was about his young ward.

A jail like cell sits in the back of the bat cave, ready for Cheshire, or any other assassin. They throw her in and leave her there.

"This is so not asterous." Dick Grayson says, In a huffy voice.

Alfred is in the kitchen making a midnight snack, while Bruce and Dick hang out in the kitchen.

"YOU remember our deal." Bruce retorts.

Dick did remember.

"_I'm getting the team to protect you." Bruce said when the third threatening note came in. _

_Dick spurts out his tea he was drinking. _

"_No!" he shouts. Bruce hides his amusement._

"_I am not taking any chances, Dick." Bruce says._

_Richard thinks of any way to get out of this. Although, from the way Bruce was looking at him, he wasn't going to budge at all on the subject._

"_How about the first sign of someone attacking, I will allow the team to protect me." He compromises._

"This is so not fair. I didn't ask for this!" Dick says, almost shouting.

"I know," his guardian says, "but please, somehow let me protect you; it would lift a weight off my chest."

Dick sighs and slouches deep into his seat. He didn't want the team to know his secret identity as much as Batman didn't want it.

"Fine." He says.

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><p><strong>I will update this every Monday. Chapters are usually 3,000 words long. Please leave a review!<strong>


	2. Chapter 1

**uploaded: **September 29, 2014

**Reviews:**

**Queen Sound **Thank you :)

**StormPetal **thank you :)

**owlcat92 **OMG, I love them too!

**NobodySomebodyEverybody **I bet your stories are awesome, too! :)

**Guest **I'll try, lolz

**anon **WOW. Is that a story or a video game or...

**Guest **I'll try :)

**AwesomeGirl101 **If my life decides not to be hectic anymore. LOLZ

**Ani-DP-TT-PJ-H-Ben10 Fan **Me neither!

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

I am not happy. Well, to say 'not happy' was an understatement, I am pissed. Of course, I wasn't going to be the one to break it to Batman's face, or especially Alfred's; I wasn't allowed to cuss. What Batman deemed not to know wouldn't hurt him.

Right now, we were at the mountain, and I am Robin. I am standing next to Batman in front of the team.

Batman was his usual stoic as ever self. He stood there with his regular frown stuck on his face. Light stubble lays on his face from not shaving for a week; he was too worried for his young ward and soon to be son (aka: me).

The adoption was a slow process with all the commotion coming from it. From the death threats to everyone, even the lawyers and court systems granting the adoption, to the people saying he wasn't fit to be a dad.

The team look at Batman with a little bit of intimidation. Okay, a lot of intimidation. They still didn't know what was going on since Batman and I haven't said anything yet. Well, besides that we needed to talk to them.

"Team," Batman finally says, spooking a few of them, "Unlike your other missions, this will be a protection mission."

The team looks shocked for a while, before they break out into grins. Never have they gotten a mission that wasn't undercover.

I, however, didn't look too asterous. In fact, I was still pissed

"Who are we protecting?" Kaldur asks.

Everyone looks eagerly to Batman.

"Is it a prince? No, no, no, is it a princess? Is she hot? Does she have a thing for red heads?" Wally asks in a speed.

I almost roll my eyes. _I am not a princess, nor do I have a thing for red heads or boys. _I think to myself.

Batman doesn't look too amused either. In fact, he narrows his eyes, making him scarier (if that was even possible.)

"Your mission is to protect a young ward of someone very important." Batman continues, acting as if he never even heard KF speak.

The team looks between at each other.

"Who is it, Batman?" Kaldur asks.

Batman pushes a button on a remote he is holding. Holographic screens appear right in front of everyone. A young boy was on all of them; a few with other people with him. On one, the boy had slicked back black hair and icy blue eyes. On another, three different views of him were seen. His name was in the corner of each holographic picture: Richard Grayson.

Wally, who, at the moment, was drinking chocolate milk, spit out his milk. Guess who it landed on? Batman. He wasn't very happy, but it was only on the corner of his cape. I bit my lip to keep from laughing at it.

I think Batman cared more about protecting me, so he continues instead of killing Wally.

"This is Richard Grayson. Recently," Batman begins before clicking the remote again, bringing up a video of the press conference that I remember going to. It was Bruce telling all of Gotham that he was finally not only adopting me, but giving me most of his fortune, "Bruce Wayne adopted his ward of five years and decided to pass on most of his fortune as well ,to him."

"No offense or anything, Mr. Batman, but how is this any of the League's concern?" Miss Martian asks Batman.

Batman snaps his head over to her and giving her a semi-batglare.

"As you all apparently do not know, Bruce Wayne is the league's primary supporter. He has asked us for the protection of his soon-to-be-son. The least we could do was protect him until we know he is safe.

Batman changes the screen again to three different people. I knew these people, I got to spend time in their pleasant company.

"These are the only known assassins to try and kill Richard Grayson. First, Cheshire tried attacking him in his sleep."

A high profile of Cheshire shows her face and three dimensions of her. A brief history of her is written, but is too small to read from the back of the room.

"Next is Copperhead." A well-toned with blonde hair cut in a pixie showed up on the screen. Many tattoos littered her body. A cropped shirt leaves her navel exposed. Leather jeans adorn her legs. "She is most likely doing this for someone else, seeing as she cannot settle down with the money herself."

A picture of security feed from the manor shows up on the screen. I was sitting at the table with Bruce waiting for breakfast to come.

"She attacked while the Wayne's were having breakfast. This is a picture from their security feed." Batman continues.

The picture showed what looked like moments before Copperhead attacked us. She was curled around the window sill waiting for the right moment. Bruce was reading the newspaper in the picture, while I sifted my fork through invisible food.

"Luckily," Batman continues, "Mr. Wayne was aware that she was there, so he had time to take out a Taser he always hides under his shoes."

I roll my eyes. _More like you beat the crap out of her. _

After Bruce's encounter with her when he first started out, he made plenty of the antidote to cure the toxin.

"And last, but not least, we have Killer Crock."

A green mutant I was all too familiar with appeared on the screen. I remember him, he…

"He tried to kill Mr. Grayson at school." Batman basically finishes my thoughts.

Realization flashes in Artemis's eyes; she was at school that day. In fact, we were both in calculus together. The giant crocodile left a big gaping hole in the school. Bruce had to pay for the damages.

"We think he was working for a mobster or higher official. I haven't worked out all the details yet." Batman says, almost finished with is little presentation.

I sneak a look over to Batman. To a normal person, he would look to you as he always does: dark, brooding, rough. To me, however, I could see the little things. How when he was worrying, I could see the barely visible frown marks on his face.

I could see how he shifted more than usual from his anxiousness. He just wasn't himself. In some kind of way, it was my fault. I was making him worried.

A picture of Wayne Manor showed up in place of Killer Croc. It was a recent picture; it had the recently done landscaping to the ancient old grounds. Bruce had added more trees around the house to support Earth Day.

All in all, I liked them. It gave me more places to hide. Not that Bruce was surprised to see me anyway…

"You will be flying there tonight. You will try to keep quiet so we have the element of surprise." Batman says. "More assassins will likely be coming."

My eyes widen in shock. Bruce said they were coming tomorrow. The bastard, he lied to me. I look out of the corner of my eye to see him smirking slightly. He did it on purpose!

"You will take the bio-ship to the pre-set coordinates that J'ohnn installed. You have an hour to get ready and packed up."

And with that, Batman leaves the team and me in the room together. Everyone is quiet for a while. Suddenly, Miss Martian squeals.

"Eee! I can't believe we have a first real mission!" she screams. Artemis laughs while covering her ears.

"It is a great honor." Kaldur pitches in.

"Yeah, I can't wait! What about you, Robin?" Kid Mouth asks.

Wally knew my secret I.D. I told him when we became best friends. I knew he was probably mad I didn't tell him about this sooner though…

"I'm not going." I state bluntly.

Everyone turns to stare at me.

"What do you mean you are not going?" Artemis asks.

I shrug and turn to the side.

"Batman needs me to do a top secret mission. I won't be able to go." I lie.

I hated lying to them, but I didn't want them to get suspicious. I really don't want them to find out my secret. They wouldn't look at me the same ever again. Wally gave me a side glance that basically screamed: "Dude, seriously?"

"Why can't you just tell Batman…" Superboy begins, but I cut him off.

"No, it's fine. Besides, it's not like I'm missing out on all the fun." I say, then crack a smile. "Anyway, I have to leave soon, too. I have to go get some stuff. Laters."

I leave the front room and go to the bedroom I was assigned to for when we needed to stay here. I never actually stayed here, but it was still packed with stuff of mine. Alfred himself came here when no one else was around and did my room and everything for me.

I go over and flop onto my bed. I still couldn't believe Bruce was doing this to me. To make matters even worse, Alfred agreed with him. Usually, if Alfred disagreed, Bruce decided against it. Well, most of the time.

A knock sounds on my door and I look up. Wally comes in without any invitation. He speeds over to me and sits on my bed. We just sit there in silence.

"Dude," he finally says, "why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to worry you."

"Well, you have."

We sit a while longer. I get up and start getting my suitcase out of the closet to pretend to go somewhere.

"I hate lying to the too, you know." I say.

Wally looks to me.

"Then why don't you tell them?" he asks me.

I sigh. There were a number of reasons I wouldn't tell them.

"One of the most obvious reasons is Batman." I say.

Wally rolls his eyes.

"Duh, besides that one. You know old bats would forgive you. So that cannot be a reason." He argues.

He just was not going to let this go. I hated telling why; I always feel like a jerk when I told myself the reasons over and over in my head.

"Because… because I don't want them to know." I finally say.

I look to the ground. My teammates trusted me with their identities, but I can't even bring myself to tell them mine.

"Why?" KF asks.

"I like keeping it a secret." I partially lie.

"That's not it. I may not be the sharpest sword, but I'm not dumb." He encourages.

"I feel like a dick…"

"You are."

"…but what if the mole caught wind of it? What if they judge who I am? What if I just plain don't want them to know?"

Wally sighs.

"I would say you were paranoid, a dick…"

"Not funny."

"…and a jerk, but, I would probably do the same." He finishes.

I look up at him.

"So you don't think it's selfish or anything?" I ask.

He chuckles a little.

"Never said that. Although, I would probably do what you are doing if I was in your situation." He says.

I laugh and put one of my hands on his back.

"Alright, let's get you packed." I say.

"Okay, let's go." He says, leading the way out of my room to his.

"You know the one good thing about this whole thing?" I ask him.

"NO, what?" he asks back.

"We get to have more bro time!" I say.

He laughs and we walk to his room.

"Geez, Wally. How much do you need?" I ask.

Wally was in the middle of stuffing his suitcase full. He packed his whole closet and most of his drawer. We only had about ten minutes to get the rest of his stuff.

KF speeds out of the room and returns with a new handful of stuff. There was a cake, French fries, Debbie cakes, etc.

"The hell, KF!" I shout.

He almost drops everything.

"Dude, not funny! Besides, you know I need all this food to survive!" he says.

I roll my eyes.

"That's not what I meant. I meant, how could you even compare all of that food to Alfred's cooking?" I ask him.

He drops the food.

"Good point." He replies.

He tries to zip up his bag to no avail. Then, he tries to sit on it and zip it.

"Hey, Rob?" he asks.

"Yes, KF?" I reply.

"Sit on this, please."

"_Be at Bio-ship in one minute." _Batman's distorted voice says over the intercom.

I sigh, it was almost time.

I help Wally load up his REALLY heavy bag. I don't even want to get started on what is in there. Everyone else packed surprisingly light.

Would Dick Grayson be allowed to know their identities? What if I slipped up and said their name when I wasn't supposed to know it?

"Remember, team. Try to let as little people know you are there as possible. Be in civilian identities at all times to catch the assassins by surprise. Try to leave the residents alone as much as possible. Everyone in the residence is safe and does not need investigating. If anything happens to Richard Grayson, Bruce Wayne, or Alfred Pennyworth, you will all be suspended from this team." Batman says.

My eyes involuntarily pop out. He must really actually care.

"Background on the current people living there from the bare minimum are in case files on the ship. READ OVER THEM. Not only for your safety, but also for the League's dignity." He continues.

I roll my eyes. Did he have to be this dramatic?

"And where is Robin going?" Artemis asks in her sarcastic voice.

Batman narrows his eyes at her for a minute before answering.

"He will be with me helping with a top secret assignment. Your knowledge of the mission in question is to be kept as little as possible. No more questions."

Artemis looks like she wants to say something back, but I guess she thinks better of it.

"Some of us have to go to school, you know." Wally says.

I mentally face palm. Bruce doesn't know that KF knows the secret; at least, I don't think he does. So he always tries to make Bruce uncomfortable. Sometimes it was hilarious, but now, it was kind of annoying.

Batman narrows his eyes at Wally.

"Then get your work for the next few weeks." He says. He then looks to Artemis. "Unless you have school nearby."

Artemis flushes a little. I have to hold back a laugh.

"Of… of course I can't now. I have school at Star City." She stutters.

I cough in my hand to keep from laughing. Wally shoots me a look. I forgot, no one else knew.

"So, a spoiled brat is more… important then our education?" Superboy asks.

Batman almost growls. I kind of cringe. Is that what people think of me? I'm usually not one. At least, I don't think.

"And why is the kid a spoiled brat?" Wally asks, looking pissed.

"He has to be. I mean, the kid has a new phone or something every day." Artemis says. She catches herself. "I have a cousin who goes to his school." She says, hurriedly.

Superboy nods his head.

"I'm sure he is a nice boy…" M'gann tries to say. She is interrupted by the Zeta Beam.

"Zatara 11. Zatanna Zatara B08." The female like voice says.

Everyone turns to the newly entered people.

"Zatanna!" I say and smile.

I may have a small teeny tiny crush on her. I mean, what boy wouldn't?

"Hey, Zatanna! Tell Kid Mouth that Richard Grayson is a spoiled brat." Superboy says.

Zatanna stops and frowns.

She was beautiful. She was brilliant.

"He kind of is, to tell the truth. I mean, what kid that rich isn't?" she answers.

And she was the nicest… Mother fucking what?

Superboy points to her and looks at Wally.

"See!" he emphasizes.

My heart crushes to a million pieces.

"You have never met the kid!" Wally shouts to everyone.

"Enough." Batman says. Unfortunately, no one hears him.

"What, you have?" Artemis asks.

"Well, no…" Wally says.

"Then you don't know."

"You are just a bitch." Wally says, then gets in her face.

Everyone gasps. Wally never cusses. My eyes widen under their mask. Zatara covers Zatanna's ears. Artemis's eyes drown in unshed tears. She knew Wally always kids with her, but I don't think she can take this. As her friend, I should be concerned, but under the circumstances, I'm not.

"ENOUGH!" Batman shouts. "I will not tolerate this. You are heroes, act like it. Now board the bio-ship."

Everyone is quiet as they exit the room.

Like Artemis, I feel like crying. I didn't know my teammates thought that of me. What if the whole world thought that of me? I turn around and follow Batman.

Batman and I were in the Batwing flying back to the mansion. We had to hurry and get there before the team. We still had to get showers and get dressed. We really should have left earlier.

I'm propped up on my elbow looking out at the window.

"Are you okay?" Batman asks

I look up surprised.

"Yeah." I lie.

Batman sighs.

"You are lying." He says.

He takes off his mask revealing Bruce Wayne.

"Talk to me. That's why I'm here."

I trace my fingers on the windowsill.

"I don't know, I just didn't think that's what people thought of me." I finally say.

"But it's not true."

"They still think it."

I slide my fingers over the screen in front of me. It shows the bug Batman put in the bio-ship. The team was sitting in their seats with M'gann steering. They were reading the folders Batman was talking about.

"_Don't talk about his parents, don't go into his room without a reasonable explanation. This is stupid!" Artemis says. _

Batman slides his finger on it, which turns it off.

I smile after a while. If they wanted a brat, I would give them one.

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><p><strong>Next Update: <strong>Monday


	3. Chapter 2

**Posted: October 6, 2014**

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><p><strong>Reviews:<strong>

**A Small Voice **Many, my friend. Thanks for reviewing!

**animegal1357 **I will :) Thanks for reviewing!

**owlcat92 **Well, Bruce Wayne is an influential person, even to Lex Luthor, so it would be good enough to say he may have learned some of the powerful people of the neighboring cities of Metropolis. Plus, he could have seen it on TV. I was never big on Chalant. I have many reasons, which I will not say in case it might offend you. Plus, why she acted that way will be explained later. Plus, the summary said that no one would be paired with Dick/Robin. Hoo roo! (I think I said that right?...) BTW: thank you for reviewing and sharing your honest opinion. I appreciate it.

**Ani-DP-TT-PJ-H-Ben10 Fan **I hope so!

**hinatamesia18Echizen **Yo, con suerte, se ríen a carcajadas

**TheAsterousAuthor **How could someone not make Alfred British and awesome? LOL

**IndiaMoore **Me neither!

**ConvenantGirlLoki **I was wondering if anyone would like that part. Thank you!

**RollingUpHigh **Thanks for that tid bit of information! Thanks for reviewing!

**PuppyProngs **yes, yes they are. Right now, Bruce and Dick don't know that there are going to be other Robin's. Plus, it breaks my heart how Bruce treats Tim Drake more of a son than he does Richard, so I try not to think of the other Robin's.

**Guest **I know that Artemis crying was a little out there, but she genuinely likes Wally (even though, no offense, I don't really like Spitfire). So hearing that from him might make her really sad. Plus, maybe she was PMSing. Everyone cries during that.

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><p><strong>I need to take out that Zatara was in the First chapter with Zatanna. I totally wasn't thinking and put him in there. So, pretend he wasn't there. YOu didn't see anything...(I love Madagascar) <strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

The Batwing lands in the batcave. The waterfall parts and spills on nearby platforms as we pass through it. We really needed to fix that.

I flip out of the Batwing onto the surrounding floor.

We weren't allowed to change in the bat cave anymore since we have Cheshire in here. We still haven't got any information out of her. To tell the truth, we have never had kept a villain in here before.

I hurry and get dressed in the elevator up to the manor. We just leave the suits in there once we step out.

A doorbell sounds on the front door. I rush up to my room.

I open my door and flip onto my bed. What should I do to act natural?

I run to my attached bathroom and grab the hair gel on the counter. I hurry and add it to my hair, slicking it back. I already have on a linen shirt and a vest, so I get one of my school ties to put on it.

I run back to my room and turn on the Xbox. Call of Duty was already in it, so I log in and start playing Story Mode.

I lean over to my bedside table and get my iPad from the drawers. I pull up the security feed of the front door.

"_Hello," Alfred says in his English voice, "welcome to Wayne Manor." _

_Artemis leans over and says something to Zatanna. She laughs I return. _

"_Now, I shall take you up to Master Richard." He says. _

I throw the iPad back into the drawer and pick up the controller. Heavy footsteps sound on the steps and onto the floor, stopping at my door. Alfred knocks.

"Master Richard?" Alfred asks.

"Come in." I say, barely finding my voice.

The door opens and in comes the team. They were all still in uniform. I just look ahead at the TV. Alfred clears his throat.

I look over at them again, then add a sneer to my face.

"Well, if it isn't the Baby League." I say.

Alfred's eyes widen, so do Wally's.

"Too bad Bruce couldn't get actual help. Pity." I say, trying to imitate those rich boy voices I saw on TV.

Alfred coughs, and I look to him. His face was red. At first, I thought it was from embarrassment, but it was from laughing! Alfred looked like he was about to blow a gasket.

"We came to protect you," M'gann says, trying to be nice, "it is an honor to meet you."

I know M'gann didn't do anything or say anything against me, but I needed to keep up the show. I kind of felt bad.

"I wish I could say the same…" I trail.

"And why can't you?" Artemis asks.

I look at her and smile the best I can.

"I would be lying."

It has been an hour since they got here. We were all waiting for Bruce to come out of a phone conference. Needless to say, everyone looked impatient. Finally, he comes through the doors.

"Hello, everyone. Sorry, I'm late." Bruce says with a smile on his face.

He shakes everyone's hands and sits on the sofa with me.

"I'm sorry to drag you all out like this." He says, and flashes a smile to everyone. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Bruce Wayne." He says.

"It is nice to meet you, Mr. Wayne." Kaldur says.

Bruce laughs and shakes his head.

"Please, Mr. Wayne was my father's name. Call me Bruce." He says.

"I will get some tea, Master Bruce." Alfred says, excusing himself.

Laughter is heard from the kitchen. I think Bruce rolls his eyes.

"Anyway, this is Richard." He continues.

I smile and give a little wave.

"We already met." Zatanna says.

She says it with such a sour voice.

Bruce's eyes widen, then he looks to me.

"Tell me you were on your best behavior?" he asks.

"The bestest." I reply.

"Good." He says, then ruffles my hair.

"Now," he says, looking to the others, "there are some rules."

"Of course." Kaldur says.

"One: stay in your civilian identities as much as possible."

"Ok." Wally says.

"Two: act like heroes. Alfred doesn't take kind to hooligans." He continues.

"Understood." Artemis says, looking at Wally accusingly.

"And three: protect Richard at all times." He finishes.

"We promise to keep those terms, Mr. Wayne… I mean… Bruce." Kaldur says, reaching out for Bruce's hand.

Bruce shakes it heartily.

"I have a question, Mr. Bruce." Artemis asks.

"Yes, miss?" Bruce answers.

"Artemis. "She says. "What about school? I don't suppose you expect us to miss on our education?"

Bruce looks like he wants to strangle her, but instead, he smiles through his agitation.

"You can go to Gotham Academy. Watch Richard and get your education at the same time. Unless you already go there?" he asks.

I cough into my hand, barely hiding a laugh. Go Bruce.

Artemis turns red and sputters.

"No." she states.

"Good, we have an agreement, then?" he says, extending his hand to hers.

Artemis looks at his welcoming hand like one would to a piranha, but she gingerly takes it. She shakes it gently before letting go.

"Any other questions?" Bruce asks.

Everyone stay silent, so he gets up and dusts invisible dirt off his legs.

"No? Then I bid farewell." He says, then enters the kitchen.

I look back to the others to see they were looking at me. Artemis has a scowl on her face, Zatanna looks pissed, and Wally looks like Wally, Superboy looks like his mad self, and Kaldur and M'gann looking polite.

"I think the appropriate thing for me to do would be to show you to your rooms." I say.

"So I guess what you are going to do is not show us our rooms." Artemis remarks in her snarky voice.

She seemed to be looking everywhere but Wally; I guess she was still mad at him. I still couldn't believe Wally would go that far, however. I mean, he was my best bro and everything, but I felt… special that he would stick up for me like that.

"Actually," I say, flashing a smile to her, "I am going to show you your rooms. Bruce suggested that we get to know each other better. Get dressed in civvies and meet me in the library."

With that, I turn around and start walking gracefully up the staircase. Not hearing anyone behind me, I turn around to see they were just standing there. I raise an eyebrow.

"You guys coming?" I ask.

Some blush as they start following me. KF speeds up beside me. I barely flinch; I was used to it.

We were in the west wing. It was meant for guests and visitors. Translation: stay there or die. No one but Bruce, Alfred, and I were allowed in the East wing.

"Here is the girls' room." I say, pointing to the door to the left. "And… here is the boys'." I say, pointing to the opposite door of the girl's room.

"Thank you." M'gann says, then nodding her head to me.

I flash her a toothy smile. Artemis gives me a curt nod while Zatanna just ignores me. I sigh.

The boys immediately go to their rooms without any reconciliation.

I go towards the library and wait.

A picked up a random book upon my arrival to the library. I read it for about fifteen minutes before the first person came in. Kaldur sat there in his civvies on the sofa. He doesn't talk to me, so I wait until the others have arrived.

Superboy comes in next, then Wally, and then the girls come out together.

I set my book down on the stand next to my chair. I look up to them and smile while closing my eyes. I was so nervous; what if I gave my secret away? What if they found out I was Robin and thought I actually acted like this?

No. They wouldn't find out. I wouldn't let them.

I look to Artemis and pretend to be surprised to see her. Her eyes look at me pleadingly.

I sigh inwardly; should I do this? She was right to have her secrets; I had my secrets. Then again, I was angry. Was that enough to justify my actions? Was I any better than some street villain.

I look to her and nod. Eventually either the school or she herself would reveal her little secret to everyone. She seems to give a small smile.

"Hi. Bruce wanted me to try to get to know you guys, so…" I trail on, hoping they got the message.

"No offense, but we do have secret I.D.'s to keep a secret. For all we know, you would give them up." Zatanna says.

She seemed to somber up a bit. I was still a little bummed that she judged me so quickly. However, wouldn't I do the same if I was placed in her position? I would like to say I wouldn't, but I don't know.

I give a small half smile.

"Understandable. How about the gist of stuff, then?" I ask.

She sighs before looking to her knees. She nudges Artemis, who does the same to Kaldur.

"Never mind. I can see you guys are tired. Night everyone!" I say, then waltz right out the door up to my room.

I slam the door behind me. Now that I was by myself, I had too much time to think to myself. I don't know how, but I ended up in my bed and under the covers.

All I could think about was Zatanna. Why would she judge me so quickly? I haven't done anything to deserve that. Maybe being a brat towards her wasn't the way.

Then I think of the team in general. I was still shocked Superboy acted that way. I never knew he even knew of Bruce Wayne or Richard Grayson. I would have to investigate that.

Kaldur was neutral, and so was Miss Martian. I couldn't really blame them.

Then there was Wally. I was still kind of surprised he would stand up for me like that. He was like a brother to me, I don't know what I would do without him.

Batman was a whole different story. I thought I was surprised with Wally. Hell! Batman actually broke out of his stoic character to defend ME.

I didn't like the thought of Bruce and me in a son and father relation. That didn't mean I didn't want it, but I feel it would be awkward and impossible. If I allowed myself to dream and think of the possibility of that happening, I could get myself hurt.

When Bruce said he was going to adopt me, I almost let myself think that for a moment. Okay, I can't lie, I did think of it for a moment. I was vulnerable for one moment. I hated it. After the happy thoughts of Bruce finally wanting me, thoughts and images of rejection crossed my mind.

I couldn't stand rejection, especially from Bruce. If I tried to act like a son and expected him to be a father all of a sudden, I could endanger the kind of friendship we have now. I couldn't risk it.

The thought of all of this just made me want to cry.

I wake up to my alarm clock. I groan and roll over, making the sheets cover me, and bringing my pillow over my head.

I disliked the incisive ringing. Crying, or almost crying, made me really tired and un-fresh.

The alarm is soon too much to handle, so I finally get up, groggily I might add, and hit the snooze. Right as I lay back down and snuggle into my pillow, a blast of air hits m

"Wake-y, wake-y, Dick." The all too familiar voice of KF rings in my ears.

I let out an exasperated sigh.

"Go away, Wally." I grumble.

"No can do, Dicky. Alfie sent me. Gave me a delicious batch of cookies for doing so, I might add." He replies.

"What does he want?" I ask, then roll over at my side so I could look at him.

Wally tosses a cookie into the air a catches it with his mouth. A loud and satisfying crunch sounds as he bites on them.

"Breakfast." He says, his mouth full of cookies.

Crumbs dropped on my floor. Eww, just eww.

"Dude!" I shout, then cringe as more drop on the floor.

Wally looks to the floor and blushes scarlet.

"Sorry, bro. I'll get it later." He says.

Translation: I will let Alfred get it.

We go to the dining room. We are greeted by the team. They were already sitting down. No food was on the table yet. Guess Alfred was waiting for me.

Bruce is at the head of the table. I go to the left of him and sit down. Wally and the rest of the team sit on the other side of the table.

Alfred comes bustling in with a trolley filled with trays. On a separate long table next to the Dining table, he sits the food plates.

The trays were actual silver from the 1800's, I think… Something like that.

"For today's breakfast, ladies and gentlemen, we have," he lifts up the first tray, "crepes with vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry;" he lifts up the second lid, "sunny side up eggs with paprika and a very delicious sauce combination from France," then, he lifts up the final cover, " and Canadian bacon with the finest maple syrup."

He bows and goes back into the kitchen.

Bruce lifts up an eyebrow and holds back a chuckle.

Usually, unless we had guests, we just had waffles or toaster strudels; all home-made, of course.

Bruce had told Alfred about my dilemma with the team. They had both agreed that what they had said was out of unorthodox. Although Bruce didn't approve of my methods of being a so called 'brat', Alfred was all for it. I believe he even found it enjoyable. When I asked him, however, he just said "What a frivolous thing to say."

Even though Bruce didn't agree with it, he thought it was funny, to a degree.

I look to the team to see them bug-eyed. I get up and fill my plate to the brim with food and sit down. The team still hasn't gotten up, but after me motioning to them to go, they get up and fill their plates, too.

I take a bite of eggs. They are like taking a bite of heaven. I spit them out and wipe my tongue.

"Alfred!" I exclaim and jump from my seat.

Wally was in mid-bite of his crepe, Artemis was still scooping food, and Zatanna was doing some spell to her food.

Alfred comes running from the kitchen.

"Yes, Master Richard?" he asks, a smile that only Bruce and I could distinguish lacing his voice.

"The egg is too moist." I say.

"I am sorry, young master. Do you want me to remake it?" he asks.

"No," I say, crinkling my nose, "I'm not hungry anymore."

I get up, wipe off my lip, and exit the room.

All I could do was think of my actions. Should I still be doing this?

I toss onto my stomach and sigh. I felt like a brat. _That is kind of the point._ My inner conscience says.

I reach out the iPad and switch on the feed for security. Everyone was in the sitting room. They seemed to be having a conversation beforehand.

"_See! That just proves it!" Artemis says. _

_She seemed to look to everyone but Wally. I knew she was embarrassed and a little pissed at him, but she has been avoiding him like the plague since they got here yesterday. _

"_Proves what?" Megan asks. _

I roll my eyes and smile, M'gann was still as innocent as ever.

"_That he is a brat!" she continues, answering M'gann's question._

_M'gann crinkles her forehead and frowns._

"_How?" she asks._

_Artemis face palms and dramatically runs it down her face._

"_Well one, he acted like a douche when we got here- someone who is a meany ass, M'gann- Two, he totally flipped over too moist eggs- who does that?- Three, he takes things for granted." She finally finishes._

"_Maybe he is just stressed we are here." Wally suggests._

_Everyone ignores Wally and ponders on Artemis's statement. _

"_He isn't the traditional 'good kid'." Kaldur agrees. _

"_I guess I agree with them. Sorry, Wally, but his actions speak louder than words." M'gann says._

_Wally turns as red as his hair and stands up._

"_I'm done with you lot, goodbye!" he says._

I turn it off and slide it back in my drawer.

Now look what you did, Grayson. You turned Wally against his friends. What kind of friend are you?

I bump my head on the headboard of my bed. I was a bad friend. I'm not talking about Wally anymore, I meant the whole team. Maybe I should have just proved them wrong and be nice.

I shake my head. What fun would that of been? _The nice one. _

I wanted to be nice so bad, but inside, my heart hurt. It hurt because of my closest friends judging me while not knowing it was me. It hurt because I knew Wally liked Artemis, and now because of me, they were fighting. It hurt because Wally didn't have any friends besides me at the moment because of me. It hurt because my crush apparently loathed me.

When I was still traveling with the circus, I ran to my mother once, crying. I had been playing with kids in the nearby town we were soon going to be performing in later that day. We were having fun until one of them brought up the circus.

They started talking about how we were useless slaves that couldn't do anything for ourselves. Unbeknownst to them, I was one of those 'useless slaves.' I excused myself and immediately told my mother. I told her how I was afraid that once my new friends found out that was me, they wouldn't be my friends anymore.

She had set me on my lap and gently soothed me until I calmed down enough, then she told me an important piece of advice: "Be yourself, Richard," she said, using my full name to my surprise, "if they don't like part of you and try to change you, and have the decency to be biased against someone they don't know, then they aren't good enough to be your friends. You deserve better."

I remembered my mother's words, even now, and I decided to follow her advice. If they didn't like me the way I was, then I guess I don't need them.

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><p><strong>May update early, but if not, next update is Monday.<strong>


	4. Chapter 3

**Uploaded: October 17, 2014**

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><p><strong>Reviews:<strong>

**animegal1357 **I will :)

**Mickey's Girl **Thank you! I love hearing positive feedback! And, I am glad someone thinks I'm funny.

**Jaddis **No one should mess with the Bat family, period, LOLZ

**PrettyKitty Luvs U **Thanks! :)

**TheAsterousAuthor** Alfred is always british and awesome. Dick didn't really think this through, did he? LOLZ

**JustWhatILike **Thanks; I will!

**Guest **Trust me, they will.

**Queen Sound **Thanks!

**purpleunicorn316 **Sorry, kinda behind.

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><p><strong>Sorry there was no update Monday. Switching updates to Friday since Fall TV came back on. LOLZ<strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

After a while, I decided to go to the medium sized gymnasium Bruce had put in for me. I needed to cool off and stop thinking. I go to the adjacent showers and change into my spandex (jeans and a vest aren't the best for acrobatics.)

I rib my hands together with chalk powder and jump up onto one of the bars. I swing back to forth, making myself go higher and higher. When I get high up in the air, I let go and grab onto a higher bar.

I keep repeating this until I am on the highest bar. I swing and sit on the top most bar, just looking ahead.

Liquid trails down my face. I wipe my hand over my nose and look at my palm. Salty sweat sits in the crevices of my palm; I was burning up. I climb onto my feet until I am standing on the bar. Then, I jump and land perfectly on the matted ground.

I go over to the bench and sit down. I pat the towel on my forehead to catch the falling sweat. I pick up the water bottle, then take a big swig. I sit it down and wipe the condensation off my hand onto my shorts.

I look over to the trapeze. I bite my lip; I really wanted to go onto it, but I wasn't allowed without a spotter. Well, it wasn't like Bruce didn't watch me 24/7.

I run over to the trapeze and climb up the ladder to the standing point. I stand up there and look down. No matter how many times I tried to convince Bruce I wasn't going to kill myself, he still insisted that I use a safety net.

I grab the rope that was attached to the swing and pull on it so the swing comes to me. I grab onto it, take a deep breath, and then let my feet go in the air.

I close my eyes and take in the sensation of the adrenaline going through my veins; the exhilarating pleasure of wind in my face.

I open my eyes for a split second so I can let go and grab onto the other one. I add my family's rare quadruple somersault in. My hands grab back onto the cold metal and I just hang there until the swing stops.

I look down. That retched safety net insults me. I really didn't want it there, it made me feel like I needed it; I hated needing something. When you needed something, it made you vulnerable. Take that one thing away, and you were helpless to whatever came next.

I swing back and forth to pick up speed so I can flip again. Right as I was going to count to jump, my body jolts and goes too early. Shit. I fall about thirty feet, (about five feet from the net) and get ready to impact when something stops me in midair.

"t'nod llaf esaelp taolf!"

I open one eye, then the other. I was shocked at what I saw, I was floating. I was floating! I bet I knew why this was happening…

I look around to see Zatanna at the door way, her hands in front of her casting the spell. She slowly lowers me on the ground.

Once I'm on the ground, she runs to me and I cross my arms.

"Are you okay?" she asks.

I glare at her before answering.

"Yes." I say, with a short tempered voice.

"Good thing I decided I came." She said.

I roll my eyes and point to the net.

"Safety net." I say slowly.

She blushes crimson and looks away. She then tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, something she did when she was nervous.

"You know, you could say thank you for once." She responds.

This time, I blush.

"And you could stick to your own damn business." I say.

I'm shocked I say it. I immediately want to take it back, but it was too late. Plus, it wasn't like I was going to take it back in the first place; had to keep the brat thing going.

"I'll remember that." She says, sourly.

I stand there for a second. Why was she here? Why was she nice to me for a second?

She looks to the wall to the left and her eyes widen. She runs to it and points to her.

"What the hell happened here?" she asks, amazement in her voice.

Think of something, think of something.

"One of the poles fell down and hit the concrete really hard." I say quickly, some of my words jumbling together.

She squints at it. She looks like she is about to protest. Quick, Grayson, think!

"Why were you actually being nice?" I ask before censoring myself.

She looks at me for a while before answering, her expression confusing.

"What do you mean?" she asks, trying to sound innocent.

"Come on," I say, "it is kind of obvious that you guys don't like me very much."

She sighs and looks to the left, contemplating on what to say. I guess I did kind of deserve it, but they did judge me…

All she does is shrug.

"Why don't you like us very much?" she replies.

"Touché."

We stand there awkwardly for a while before she motions to leave.

"Well," she starts, "I'm going to go back before the others wake."

Then, she's gone.

I sit on the bench and hold my head. As much as I tried to convince myself I didn't like her, my heart said differently. She was so nice… at least I thought she was. I didn't like her as much as I used to, at least.

I sigh and get up. I might as well hurry and get breakfast.

Breakfast went by fast, so did the rest of the day. Nothing excited happened after this morning's run in with Zatanna.

I couldn't wait for this evening, though. When all of the team went to sleep, Batman promised we would go on patrol. He knew I missed going out every evening.

I couldn't believe it, I was so excited! I just wanted to jump up and down.

I had been training all day. Well, the mild stuff. Young Justice seemed to follow me wherever I went.

Speaking of them, they barely seemed to talk to me or each other in my presence. I felt like there was a wedge between them. In the rare times they did talk, Wally wouldn't join. He would usually come to mean and talk. We had to censor what we said, couldn't have the team getting suspicious.

The closer night came, the giddier I got. I couldn't believe it, I couldn't believe it!

I basically jumped the whole time that the elevator bring us down. We already had our clothes on. Cheshire was still here. I was actually surprised that Bruce kept her down here this long. Heck! I was surprised he put her down here in the first place.

Once we exit the elevator, she looks up and at slowly. She looked awful, she probably hasn't had a shower in a few days. Batman was thinking of letting her go in a few days. He was still trying to get information out of her.

We took pretty good care of her; it wasn't like we mistreated her.

"Well," she says in her accented voice, "how much longer are you going to hold me up in here?"

Batman doesn't answer for a while; in fact, I wasn't sure he was going to answer at all.

"Soon, if you answer my questions." He answers.

She glares and pulls up her lip in a snarl. She falls back and lays against the cell bars.

"Whatever." She says, sounding like a fourteen year old.

I felt kind of bad. One, she was her own person. Sure, she made really bad choices. Sure, she wasn't the nicest of people, but I don't think she deserved to be locked up. Two, she was Artemis's sister. That just added to my guilt. However, I would never tell Batman that…

We walk past her cage and hop into the batmobile. I lay back in the leather seats and wait for us to stop in Gotham.

I pull out my birdclaw and swing onto the next building and run across it before jumping onto the next one with Batman right beside me.

We were chasing after Joker. I hated to say it, but he was too fast for my own good. I guess it helped him with throwing random objects that more often than not exploded.

I quickly dodge a flying canister of what appeared to be laughing gas; it explodes behind me. See, what did I say?

Batman goes past me, batclaws onto a nearby water tower, then dives onto Joker. Showoff.

I catch up to them and pant.

"I think I left my lungs on 25th street." I say.

Batman glares at me and doesn't make an attempt to laugh while the Joker bursts out laughing.

"Now that is funny." He says. Then he turns to Batman. "Why can't you be that funny, Bats?"

Batman doesn't respond. Instead, he ties Joker's hands together and pulls him up to his feet. Then, he goes over to the side to the building, and throws him off. Good thing he tied his feet to the side of the building. We usually just left him for the police nowadays.

"Oh, I guess I'm not that important anymore, am I, Batman? Leaving me down here by my lonesome." Joker yells from below.

I roll my eyes and walk off to the Batmobile. I sit in there and wait for Batman.

The window is already frosted by the cool winter air and condensation. I draw random scribbles in it.

The batmobile's door opens. A plump sounds as Batman sits down. Nothing happens for a while. He doesn't start the car, like he was waiting for something.

"I know there is something wrong." Batman says in his gruff Bat voice.

I sigh and roll my head to look at him. I try to look as happy and innocent as possible. Over the years, I have gotten pretty good at hiding my emotions. However, Batman was the best person in the world at determining lies from the truth.

"Not a thing is wrong with me." I say with the most straight-forward voice I can say.

It's his turn to sigh. I'm afraid he's going to say something, but he doesn't. Instead, he starts the engine and we drive away.

Another day went by slowly. Nothing really happened; well, besides my act.

Tomorrow was Monday, which meant I had to return to school. The school had gave me a week to 'recover' from my 'traumatic' experience with Killer Croc.

I really couldn't wait to go to school; it was better than hanging here all day. It was getting kind of old, predictable; like a broken record.

I mostly stayed in my room for most of the day doing nothing but playing video games or practicing math equations…

Crap, I forgot: makeup work. I probably had a lot of it, you know, with a week off and stuff.

I really don't feel like this, going to school and all…

"Master Richard." Alfred says out of the blue.

I almost do a double take; I didn't even notice him come in.

"Yes, Alfred." I reply.

"Master Bruce wishes to see you in the parlor." He says.

I nod and jump off my bed, which Alfred gives a stern look to. I run down the stairs… which Alfred gives a stern look to. Then, I slide on the rug into the parlor… which Alfred gives a stern look to.

"What do you need, Bruce?" I ask.

I stop short to see the whole team there. Oh, I bet I know what this is.

Bruce gestures for me to sit down; on a different couch than his, of course. I sit on the love seat on the other side of the room while the team sit t on the two couches, and Bruce on the chair.

"We need to talk about school tomorrow." Bruce starts.

Everyone looks excited except for Artemis. Wally has been wanting to go to my school forever. However, since he lives all the way away, he never has the opportunity to. M'gann likes trying anything human related; even school. Superboy liked doing anything M'gann did. Kaldur seemed fascinated with anything humans do. Artemis, however, looked frazzled.

I knew she would be having a hard time keeping her secret from the rest of the team. She has gotten more friends in the last few months. No way was she going to keep them at bay without risking suspicions. To tell the truth, I felt kind of sorry for her. I mean, if my secret I.D. was compromised, or risked being compromised, then I would be completely whelmed, too.

"What school are we going to?" Artemis asks, trying to not to sound as panicky as she really was.

It took all Bruce could muster not to smirk or laugh, and he was the goshdamn Batman!

"Gotham Academy." He replies.

Artemis turns pale.

"Won't we have to give them uniforms, Bruce?" I ask.

Uniforms were a required thing at Gotham Academy. If you didn't even wear one part of it, they just sent you home and failed you for the day; I knew that first hand.

A month ago, I was really tired from patrol the night before. I was in a daze getting ready for school and forgot to put on my tie. The only reason I didn't fail and get a bad grade was because Bruce threatened to cut their funding.

No one ever had to worry about someone not having their uniform or not being able to afford it; if you were rich enough to get in, you are rich enough to buy a uniform.

"That is the most prestigious school in Gotham," M'gann says. When everyone stares at her, she quickly blushes pink, which contrasts with her green skin. "Or, so I've heard."

"Anyway," Bruce says, brushing it off, "you will all have new identities. Well, except for Artemis."

I was Artemis's turn to turn red. She blushes brightly and tucks her head into Zatanna's shoulder. Not asking questions, she slowly and cautiously pets her on the back like she is afraid Artemis is going to hurt her.

"Why?" Zatanna asks.

Bruce choices to ignore her and continues.

"I need your sizes for your new uniforms." He says.

"Uniforms!" Everyone shouts.

I roll my eyes and look away; they weren't that bad.

When everyone realizes he wasn't kidding, everyone shouts out their size.

"Medium."

"Small."

"Large."

"Small."

"Extra-large."

Everyone looks at Wally. He puts up his hands.

"What?" he asks.

"Extra-large, Baywatch?" Artemis asks; the first time she had talked to him in days.

He smirks and shakes his hips.

"To contain the beast, babe."

Everyone just rolls their eyes and looks back to Bruce.

"A medium, then?" Bruce says, not even acknowledging his answer.

"Anyway, here are your identities. Batman sent them to me."

He gives everyone but Artemis and I get one.

"Zatanna, you will be Celeste Rogers," he starts, "Wally, you will be… you."

Everyone looks to Wally, but no one asks questions. They probably know that they won't get any answers.

"Conner will be Gasten Rhodes."

"Kaldur will be Tyrone Johnson."

"Everyone read up on these and be ready for school tomorrow; got it?"

Everyone nods and goes to their rooms.


End file.
